The program of the 23rd round of the Russian Football Championship starts today with a match between "Krasnodar" and "Kuban". FC "Krasnodar" is second on the table and continues to fight for a place in the Champions League, while eighth-placed "Kuban" is virtually devoid of a chance of finishing the season tournament with motivation.
"Krasnodar", interrupting the other day a series of five consecutive wins, "Rubin" climbed to second place in the table, exploiting a flash-in-the-pan win in a match against CSKA Moscow "Dynamo". In Kazan, Krasnodar's win over the "citizens" brought two goals by Uruguayan midfielder Mauricio Pereira. In the spring part of the championship, the wards of Oleg Kononov lost only two points, tied with "Ural", and hold their current position deservedly so.
Conversely, the oldest Krasnodar club "Kuban" haven't returned to their former confidence and stability. After returning to coaching bridge Leonid Kuchuk, "Kuban" won only one victory in nine matches, and after a home defeat in the previous round to the outsiders "Ural", Kuban, in fact, lost their tournament motivation. The team is in eighth place and to climb into the top four teams is almost impossible.
